Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000004
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01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:14 Father in Heaven, we thank You once again for the privilege of 01:17 being here. And as we open Your Holy Word we ask that You will 01:23 reveal to us the wondrous things from the book of Genesis. 01:27 We ask that as we study about history's hidden conspiracy 01:31 that Your Holy Spirit will help us see that there is a history 01:36 being written behind history, and help us to understand how we 01:41 fit within this scenario. 01:43 We thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer, 01:45 for we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:48 I want to start out by saying that I do not believe very much 01:54 in conspiracy theories. 01:56 Every once in awhile I'll have people give me videos 02:00 and DVD's of people who have these conspiracy theories; 02:04 for example, about what happened on 9/11, about the idea that it 02:10 wasn't an airplane that crashed into the Pentagon, 02:13 and that really, you know, the Twin Towers actually had 02:18 dynamite within them and they imploded. 02:21 I'm not very high on this type of conspiracy theory, 02:25 to be honest with you. 02:26 But I can tell you one thing, and we're going to study this 02:29 tonight. There is a conspiracy behind the events of human 02:36 history, and I like to call it the mother of all conspiracies. 02:42 And this evening we're going to study about this conspiracy 02:47 that is taking place in the invisible world, where we can't 02:52 really see the movements that are taking place. 02:55 All we can see is the repercussions in the visible 02:58 world. We want to begin our study in the book of Job. 03:02 And basically, I need to tell you a few things about Job 03:07 before we read chapter 1 and verse 12. 03:10 There was a meeting that took place in heaven. 03:13 Very clearly Job chapter 1 describes this meeting. 03:17 And representing Planet Earth went Satan to that meeting. 03:22 And the subject of conversation in this Heavenly meeting turned 03:27 to Job, whom the Bible describes as a perfect man; 03:31 as a man who had departed from evil; as a righteous man. 03:36 And the conversation turned to this man who was in harmony 03:43 with God's will. And the devil basically accused God, 03:47 and he said, the reason why Job serves You, and is righteous, 03:50 and is Holy and perfect, is because You have not allowed 03:54 me to touch him. But if You allowed me to take what You have 03:58 given to him, he would blaspheme You in Your face. 04:00 And in Job 1:12 we find the experience about what God said 04:11 to Satan in this meeting. 04:14 If you'll turn with me there, Job 1:12. It says there: 04:39 And he came back to the earth, and in just a matter of a few 04:43 minutes he took everything that Job possessed. 04:48 In chapter 2 we find another Heavenly meeting. 04:51 By the way, Job said, God gave and God took away; 04:55 blessed be the name of the Lord. 04:56 He was half right. God gave, but God did not take away. 05:00 The devil took away. 05:01 But anyway, Job remained faithful to God. 05:04 So now another meeting takes placed in Heaven. 05:06 And once again the Sons of God are up there, 05:10 and they're gathered together before the throne of God, 05:14 and God says to Satan, Have you seen my servant Job, 05:19 that even though you turned Me against him, 05:21 and you took everything that he has, 05:23 he still conserves his integrity? 05:25 And the devil says, Oh, of course he does, 05:28 because You didn't let me touch him. 05:30 You let me take everything he had, but you didn't let me 05:32 touch him. If You would let me touch him he would blaspheme 05:36 You to Your face. So God said to Satan, (you can find this in 05:41 chapter 2 verses 1 and 2), you can go down to the Earth 05:45 and you can do anything you want with Job, 05:49 except take his life. 05:51 I will not allow you to take his life. 05:53 And so the devil goes out from the presence of the Lord, 05:56 comes to the Earth, and afflicts Job with boils from the tip 06:01 of his head, from the top of his head, to the plant of his feet. 06:05 And it got so bad that he had to scratch himself with a potsherd, 06:09 with a piece of pottery. 06:11 Now you can imagine how he was tearing up his body. 06:14 And yet as you read the book of Job, Job did not blaspheme God. 06:18 He did ask God questions; why this was happening to him, 06:21 but he did not blaspheme God. 06:23 Now Job did not understand what was happening to him. 06:27 He did not understand that what was happening on earth 06:30 was really a repercussion of a battle that was taking place 06:34 in the invisible world. 06:35 In other words, this historical event that Job was going through 06:39 was really caused by something that was happening beyond 06:44 history, behind history. 06:47 And so, basically, in this story we find that the events of human 06:52 history are repercussions, or results of movements that are 06:57 taking place in the invisible world; a controversy that's 07:01 taking place in the invisible world between God and Satan. 07:05 Now we find another example of this in 2 Chronicles 18:18-22, 07:13 2 Chronicles 18:18-22. 07:17 This is a very interesting story, and I'm going to dwell 07:21 on it just for a few minutes, because I feel that it shows, 07:24 once again, that earthly events are very closely related 07:29 with what takes place in the invisible world. 07:32 It just so happens that at this time, when 2 Chronicles 18 07:36 transpires, Israel had been divided into two kingdoms: 07:42 the ten tribes of the North, and the two tribes of the South. 07:45 And a certain day the king of the ten tribes of the North, 07:50 who was Ahab, and Jehoshaphat, the king of the two tribes of 07:53 the South, met in the city of Samaria, which was the capitol 07:57 of the kingdom of the North. 07:58 And when Ahab saw that Jehoshaphat was with him, 08:02 they were together now, Ahab came up with an idea. 08:05 He said this would be a golden opportunity for us to go 08:07 and fight against our common enemy, the Syrians, 08:11 because they were ascending in power. 08:13 And so Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, don't you think it would be 08:17 a good idea for us to go and fight against the Syrians 08:19 now that we're together? 08:20 We could beat them between us. 08:23 And, of course, Jehoshaphat was a good king, 08:26 and Ahab was a bad king, so Jehoshaphat says to Ahab, 08:29 don't you think it would be a good idea to consult a prophet 08:32 to find out if this is the Lord's will? 08:34 And Ahab says, Yah, that would be a good idea. 08:37 I have about 400 prophets that I can provide. 08:41 So the 400 prophets come and Ahab says to them, 08:44 now Jehoshaphat and I want to go to fight the Syrians. 08:49 Do you think that's a good idea or not? 08:51 And, of course, these prophets, they were paid by Ahab, 08:55 and so they say, Of course, O King, if you go to fight 08:57 against those Syrians you're going to defeat them, 09:00 and you're going to prevail. 09:02 But Jehoshaphat was a good king. 09:05 He wasn't too convinced, and so he says to Ahab, now don't you 09:10 have a prophet of the Lord around? 09:13 And king Ahab says, yes, I have one, but he's in the dungeon. 09:20 And Micaiah, who was the prophet in the dungeon, 09:26 was called to come before Ahab. 09:32 And Ahab says to Micaiah, Micaiah, Jehoshaphat and I want 09:39 to go to war against the Syrians. 09:41 Do you think this is a good idea or not? 09:44 And the answer that Micaiah gives to king Ahab appears to be 09:53 totally disconnected with the event that's taking place. 09:56 This is where I want to go: to 2 Chronicles 18, and I want to 10:02 begin reading at verse 18, 2 Chronicles 18:18. 10:08 Then Micaiah said: 10:30 In other words, who will entice Ahab to go to the battle 10:34 so that he gets killed? 10:35 And now notice that there's disagreement 10:38 in the Heavenly court. It says: 10:58 Now notice this: 11:10 Why did those prophets lie? 11:14 Why did they tell Ahab, go to battle; you're going to prevail? 11:19 because there was a spirit, a lying spirit, that actually 11:25 wanted Ahab to go to battle to be killed. 11:30 Now who was that spirit? 11:32 It can't be, by the way, the angels are called ministering 11:36 spirits. This was an angel, but he was not a good angel. 11:43 How do we know he wasn't a good angel? 11:46 Because the Bible says that he used lying as his method. 11:51 Now who is the father of lies, according to the Bible? 11:54 The father of lies is Satan. 11:57 Once again, we find that Ahab went to battle, 12:01 and he was killed. The earthly event was determined 12:07 by a Heavenly meeting. 12:09 We have a third example that I want to go to. 12:12 This one is found in Matthew 2:16, Matthew 2:16. 12:19 You know, I don't even think that I have to look that up. 12:21 It's talking about king Herod when the wise men came by 12:26 Jerusalem. Remember Herod said, Oh, find out where the child is 12:31 so that I can go and worship him. 12:35 And so the wise men said, Okay, we'll do that, and they left. 12:38 But then one of the wise men received a dream that Herod 12:41 wanted to kill the child, so they left in a different 12:44 direction. And it says there in Matthew 2:16: 12:53 And what did he do? He had all of the children two years 13:00 and under killed... 13:07 Now if you looked at this event; if you read the newspaper 13:10 for the next day, they probably didn't have newspapers 13:12 back then, but if you'd read the newspaper, you would have 13:15 a clipping that would say, Herod fearing that he would lose 13:21 his throne, killed all of the children in Bethlehem 13:25 two years and younger. 13:26 But let me ask you, what was the force or the power behind this 13:31 historical event? Go with me to Revelation 12. 13:35 You see, there is a conspiracy in human history. 13:38 There's a great battle going on between good and evil, 13:42 between Satan and God, and historical events are merely 13:46 a reflection of that battle that takes place in the invisible 13:50 world. Notice Revelation 12, and I want to read just verse 4. 13:57 Speaking about the dragon, it says: 14:12 Who wanted to see the Child dead? 14:14 According to this it was the dragon who is called the ancient 14:18 serpent, the devil, and Satan. 14:20 So that historical event: Herod killing all of the children 14:25 two years and younger, was actually a historical reflection 14:30 of a battle which was taking place in the invisible world. 14:34 In other words, there is a conspiracy going on in human 14:38 history. And that conspiracy involves the devil trying to 14:43 bring destruction upon the world. 14:46 Now go with me to Genesis 1:26 and examine what God's original 14:54 plan was for man. Genesis 1:26. 15:00 And there are two ideas that I want to underline here. 15:03 God is speaking about the creation of man, and He says: 15:15 That word means let them be kings, let them rule. 15:21 Dominion over what? Every king, every ruler has a realm over 15:27 which he or she rules. 15:42 In other words, God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth, 15:51 and everything relating to this earth. 15:54 Therefore we find it somewhat strange that in the book of 15:59 Job 1:6 that in that Heavenly meeting, where the Sons of God 16:05 come to present themselves before the Lord, 16:09 who comes among them? 16:11 It says, and Satan came among them. 16:14 And then God asks him, where do you come from? 16:17 And he says, well, from roaming up and down upon the earth. 16:23 That means, I have come from patrolling, or supervising, 16:28 or directing my territory. 16:30 Now what was the devil doing in that meeting? 16:34 And who should have really been in that meeting? 16:38 Well, lets take a look at what the Bible has to say 16:41 in Luke 4:16, Luke 4:16, actually verse 6. 16:48 We've read this verse before, but lets read it again. 16:51 Luke 4:6, not 16. It says: And the devil said to him, 17:00 to Jesus that is,... 17:15 What does the devil say here to Jesus? 17:18 I will give you all of the power and the kingdoms of the world, 17:22 because the kingdoms have been delivered unto me, 17:26 and to whomever I wish, I what? I give them. 17:30 Why did the devil feel he had a right to give these kingdoms 17:34 to Jesus? Because the devil had stolen them from whom? 17:38 He had stolen the kingdom from Adam. 17:42 In other words, the devil took from Adam two things that 17:47 God spoke of in Genesis 1:26: 1. He took from him kingship, 17:54 or dominion. 2. He took his inheritance: the Earth. 17:58 He stole the Earth. 3. It was God's plan that Adam and Eve 18:03 live forever; that their name never disappear 18:06 from human history. But as a result of sin, God said, 18:10 dust you are and to dust you shall return. 18:13 Your name will be erased from human history. 18:16 Three things that God had planned for Adam and Eve: 18:19 dominion, the earth as their inheritance, and living forever, 18:26 their name enduring forever. 18:28 And when the devil led them into sin he took dominion, 18:33 he stole the earth, and he brought death into the world. 18:37 And, of course, Adam and Eve deserved to have their name 18:40 blotted out once and for all from history, 18:44 never to arise again. 18:48 But as we've studied in our previous lecture, God, when Adam 18:53 and Eve sinned, went down to the garden and He spoke those famous 18:59 words to Satan. What are those words? 19:02 We've read them many times before. 19:18 That is the Seed of the woman. 19:26 In other words, God was saying, I'm going to send a Seed 19:29 to the world that is going to do battle with you, 19:31 and He's going to take away what you took away from Adam. 19:33 He's going to restore dominion. 19:37 He's going to restore the earth, and He's going to perpetuate 19:41 the names of Adam and Eve, and all of those who accept Him. 19:46 And as we notice in our previous lecture, the devil trembled when 19:52 he heard those words. 19:53 He said, I can't allow that Seed to come. 19:55 And the whole Old Testament is the story of Satan trying 20:00 to keep the Seed from coming, and God working to prepare 20:05 the world for the Seed to come. 20:07 And the devil uses two methods: he tries to kill the Seed, 20:10 and he tries to corrupt the lineage. 20:12 Throughout several events that we studied in the Old Testament 20:16 the devil is trying to corrupt the lineage of the Messiah 20:20 so that there is no Holy line from whom the Messiah can come, 20:23 or else he's trying to destroy the Seed, like in the case of 20:26 trying to totally uproot Israel in the days of Esther. 20:30 Get rid of all of the Jews, not because he hates the Jews, 20:33 but because he hates the Messiah that will come 20:36 from the Jewish nation. 20:38 And so God serves Satan notice. 20:40 He says, I'm going to send a Seed to the world. 20:42 He's going to do you battle, and He's going to defeat you. 20:45 He's going to crush your head. 20:46 And so the devil makes up his mind that he's not going to 20:49 allow the Seed to come. 20:51 Now in our lecture today we are going to study, 20:55 not from Genesis, Genesis has the background, 20:59 but we're going study a story from the Old Testament 21:03 which illustrates this central theme of Genesis 3:15. 21:07 I want to show you how all of the stories of the Old Testament 21:10 need to be seen within this framework, of this invisible 21:15 battle going on between Christ and Satan, 21:18 between God and Satan; God preparing the world 21:21 for the Messiah, and Satan trying to impede the possibility 21:25 of the Messiah from coming to the world. 21:27 Now I'm referring specifically to a four chapter book 21:31 which is called Ruth. 21:33 It's a wonderful story. 21:35 And so I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to the book 21:38 of Ruth, and I need to give you a little bit of background 21:41 about this story. This story is taking place in the period of 21:46 the judges. It's right before the Hebrew monarchy. 21:51 In other words, before king David and Saul, and Solomon 21:56 begin to govern in Israel. 21:58 I also need to tell you that when this story takes place, 22:03 God had already prophesied in Genesis 49:10. 22:08 This is very important. 22:10 God had already prophesied in Genesis 49:10, which was written 22:15 by Moses approximately in the year 1500 B.C., that the Messiah 22:20 would come from the tribe of Judah. 22:23 That's very important. 22:25 In other words, at this point it was known that the Messiah 22:29 would come from the tribe of Judah, because God had said 22:33 the scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh, the peace 22:38 giver comes. In other words, at this point the devil knew 22:41 that the Deliverer, that the promised Seed was going 22:45 to belong to the tribe of Judah. 22:48 That a very, very important detail. 22:50 Now let's go to the book of Ruth 1:1, 2, Ruth 1:1, 2. It says: 23:22 It continues saying: 23:47 Now we can imagine this family, this very happy family, 23:51 the family of Elimelech and Naomi, living in Bethlehem 23:55 Ephrata, as it says here in verse 2. 24:00 But suddenly calamity strikes. 24:02 According to these verses, a terrible famine afflicted 24:07 the land. Now immediately we ask the question, 24:10 who caused this famine? 24:15 You know, in scripture it's not God who causes these natural 24:18 disasters. The book of Job shows us that these disasters 24:22 are caused by whom? 24:23 They are allowed by God, but they are caused by Satan. 24:26 So this famine must have been caused by Satan for some reason. 24:31 And we don't have to guess, because we're told in the verses 24:36 that we just read, that as a result of the famine, 24:40 Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons had to immigrate 24:46 to Moab. Now for those of you who don't know very much about 24:52 Moab, allow me to tell you that Moab was one of the most corrupt 24:56 and iniquitous nations in antiquity. 24:59 Moab originated in the days of Lot, as a result of an 25:05 incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters. 25:09 When Israel was about the enter the promised land the men of 25:13 Israel were enticed by the harlots of Moab to worship 25:16 strange Gods, and to commit adultery, and fornication, 25:21 and as a result 23,000 of the cream of the crop of Israel 25:25 died as a result of that sin. 25:28 It was a corrupt nation just East of the land of Israel. 25:33 Now the question is, why would Satan want the family of 25:37 Elimelech, by the way, he was from the tribe of Judah, 25:43 to immigrate to Moab, which was such an iniquitous place? 25:48 Well, allow me to give you an analogy of another story that 25:53 we find in scripture, which shows us the reason why. 25:56 The story of Joseph. 25:57 Do you remember we studied the story of Joseph? 25:59 You know, if anybody got a raw deal, it was certainly Joseph. 26:04 I mean he was a good kid. 26:05 You read the story. He wasn't a bad kid. 26:07 I mean he was a little bit too close to his father, 26:12 as compared to his brothers. 26:13 You know his father favored him above his brothers, 26:16 but he was a good kid. 26:17 He was an obedient child. 26:18 And in spite of his faithfulness, he's sold into 26:23 slavery by his brothers. 26:24 You know, Joseph could have said, wow, you know what, 26:26 I'm faithful to God and look what happens to me. 26:29 You know, I'm sold into slavery. 26:31 What's it worth to be loyal to God? 26:33 But things got worse, because it tells us that he went to work 26:38 in the house of Potipher, who was one of the higher ups in the 26:42 kingdom for the Pharaoh. 26:44 And the wife of Potipher came one day, actually several days, 26:51 but one day she came and tried to entice him to have sexual 26:54 relations with her, and Joseph said absolutely not. 27:00 She tore off his clothes; he fled. 27:03 And you know the rest of the story. 27:05 Because of his faithfulness he ended up in jail. 27:09 Now if he hadn't doubted about God before this, you know, 27:13 he probably thought, here I'm faithful to God, 27:16 and I'm obedient to Him. 27:18 I'm sold into slavery. 27:20 Now I'm faithful to God by not breaking the commandment, 27:24 you shall not commit adultery, and I end up in jail. 27:27 What kind of justice is there? 27:30 What is it worth to serve God? 27:32 But Joseph had made up his mind that even though he didn't 27:35 understand the historical circumstances that were going 27:38 on, God had a plan. 27:40 And he was going to be faithful to God because God eventually 27:44 would show him the plan. 27:45 And, of course, we all know what the plan was. 27:48 In jail Joseph met the baker, and the cup bearer of Pharaoh. 27:58 And to make a long story short, the cup bearer and the baker had 28:03 dreams. The baker, of course, became ancient history. 28:05 But the cup bearer, Joseph told him, you're going to get out of 28:10 jail, and you're going to serve Pharaoh's wine again. 28:14 Just when you get out, remember me. 28:17 And, of course, the cup bearer goes out of the jail, 28:20 and he totally forgets. 28:21 I like to call this divine amnesia. 28:23 It wasn't time yet. It wasn't the moment yet. 28:27 And so two years later Pharaoh has these two dreams 28:30 that basically meant that there were going to be seven years 28:33 of plenty, and then there were going to be seven years 28:35 of famine. And Joseph says to Pharaoh, you know you need to 28:40 find somebody who will make provision during the years of 28:42 plenty, and store the goods of the land, so the people don't 28:46 stave to death when the seven years of famine come. 28:48 And, of course, Pharaoh says, who better than you? 28:51 Now the tables were turning. 28:54 Now we're discovering the reason for what happened to Joseph; 28:58 why God allowed Joseph to go down into Egypt; 29:00 why God allowed Joseph to end up in jail 29:03 where he would meet the cupbearer; 29:04 why the cupbearer forgot Joseph for two years, 29:08 until Pharaoh had the dreams. 29:10 You see a hand of divine providence leading these events. 29:14 And then, of course, I can't tell you the whole story, 29:18 because we have to study the book of Ruth tonight, 29:20 but to make a long story short, at the end of the story 29:25 when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, 29:28 by the way, his brothers came after two years because 29:31 they were already suffering hunger. 29:33 Can you imagine what it would have been like 29:35 seven years later after the famine began? 29:38 What would have happened to Jacob and his family? 29:41 They would have been wiped out. 29:43 Who do you suppose wanted them wiped out? 29:45 Satan! Why would Satan want them wiped out? 29:48 Because Satan knew that from Jacob the Seed would come. 29:55 And, in fact, as we read in our study last time, 29:59 in Genesis 45:7, 8 Joseph says to his brothers, don't cry, 30:04 for the Lord has sent me down to Egypt ahead of you 30:09 to preserve a posterity in the earth. 30:13 Other translations say, to preserve the Seed in the earth. 30:17 And so this famine had a purpose; 30:20 to starve Jacob and his family. 30:23 But God knew the end from the beginning, so He sent Joseph 30:27 down into Egypt so that the Seed would be preserved. 30:32 The same is happening here in the story of Ruth. 30:35 The devil says, well, if I send Elimelech and Naomi, 30:38 and the two sons; they're from the tribe of Judah. 30:41 Evidentially He saw something special in this family. 30:43 If I send them over there, they're going to get corrupted 30:47 with the Moabites, and I won't have to worry about them 30:49 bringing any Seed into the world. 30:51 But, you know, the plan worked out better than what the devil 30:54 had anticipated, because notice that in the book of Ruth 1 31:00 it tells us that Elimelech died while they were in Moab. 31:04 So the devil is saying, well, that takes care of Elimelech. 31:08 No seed from Elimelech, but I still have these two sons. 31:13 Do you know whom the two sons married? 31:16 They married Moabite women, contrary to what God had told 31:23 the Israelites to do. 31:24 Who do you suppose enticed them to marry women from Moab? 31:29 You see, we're dealing with the conspiracy behind history. 31:33 There's an agenda that's going on beyond history in this story. 31:38 We have to read this story with enlightened eyes, 31:40 in the light of Genesis 3:15. 31:43 The devil is trying to keep the Seed from coming. 31:46 He says, if I can get these two sons to marry these women, 31:49 from Moab, they're going to lose their identity. 31:52 But the plan worked better for the devil than he thought, 31:56 because it tells us in the book of Ruth 1:6 the following: 32:03 actually, it's chapter 1, and verse 4. 32:06 We'll go to verse 6 in a moment. 32:07 It says, Now they took wives of the women of Moab; 32:10 the name of the one was Orpah,.. 32:13 not Oprah, folks... Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: 32:18 and they dwelt there about ten years. 32:20 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived 32:26 her two sons and her husband. 32:28 So basically the devil says, the heirs are wiped out. 32:33 The Seed is wiped out from this family. 32:35 There's not going to be any Seed coming, because Elimelech, 32:38 from the tribe of Judah, and his two sons are dead. 32:42 Mission accomplished! 32:44 But God is writing this story. 32:47 God is working behind the scenes to bring the Seed 32:51 into the world. Notice chapter 1 and verse 6. It says: 33:10 In other words, she says to her daughters-in-law, 33:12 I'm going to go back to Judah. 33:15 I'm going to go back to Bethlehem where I came from, 33:18 because I've heard that there's bread there. 33:20 I have no reason to stay here. 33:21 My husband is dead, and my sons are dead. 33:23 The Lord has worked against me. 33:26 She says, I'm going to go back, even though I don't have 33:28 an inheritance; even though I don't have any place to live; 33:31 even though I don't have anybody to carry on the family name. 33:35 I'm still going to go back to Bethlehem Ephrata. 33:38 I'm still going to go back to Judah. 33:40 And so she gathers her two daughters-in-law together, 33:45 and she gives them this news. 33:47 Now notice Ruth 1:16, 17. 33:51 By the way, Orpah says, okay, I'm going to go back to my 33:56 people. I'm going to go back to my gods. 33:58 But Ruth was different. 34:00 Chapter 1 and verse 16 and 17. 34:05 It says here, and we all have heard these words before: 34:08 But Ruth said,... 34:25 Now notice this; very important. 34:32 In other words she's saying, I am disenfranchising myself 34:37 from being a Moabite, and I am incorporating myself into the 34:43 lineage of Israel. She's becoming an Israelite 34:49 according to her own admission. 34:51 And then in verse 17 she says: 35:05 Now I find it very interesting that the Lord has led Naomi 35:11 all the way to Moab. 35:14 The devil has thought that in this way he's going to corrupt 35:21 the seed so that the promised Seed cannot come, but as they go 35:27 to the land of Moab now God actually takes this Moabite 35:32 woman, Ruth, and brings her back to Bethlehem Ephrata. 35:37 This is a very, very important event, 35:40 we're going to see later on in this story. 35:42 Now they get together, Ruth and Naomi. 35:50 They go back to Bethlehem, and when they arrive 35:54 the people in Bethlehem are really in turmoil 35:57 because Naomi's been gone for a long time. 35:59 Let's notice chapter 1 and verses 19 and 20. 36:04 It says: Now the two of them went until they came to 36:11 Bethlehem. That's important: to Bethlehem. 36:13 And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, 36:17 that all the city was excited because of them, 36:21 and the woman said, Is it Naomi? 36:24 But she said to them, 36:29 The word Naomi means pleasant. 36:35 Which means bitter. 36:42 Isn't this interesting? 36:44 She's complaining against God. 36:46 She says, God has dealt very bitterly with me. 36:49 If she only knew what God had in store, and the reason for 36:54 everything, she would have done like Joseph. 36:56 She would have said, I don't understand why all of this took 36:59 place, but I'm going to trust the Lord. 37:01 The Lord has a plan. 37:03 But she didn't. Verse 21: 37:23 She's blaming God for her calamities. 37:27 And, by the way, at this time she has no inheritance. 37:32 She doesn't have any place to live. 37:33 Furthermore, she has no one to carry on the family name, 37:40 the lineage. Her name, the name of Elimelech and his sons 37:45 is going to disappear from history. 37:47 And furthermore, instead of being Lord over her heritage, 37:54 now she's practically a slave, because she has to depend on 37:57 everybody else to sustain her. 38:00 In other words, she's lost everything. 38:02 But now God is going to turn the tables. 38:05 Notice chapter 1 and verse 22. 38:23 By the way, the barley harvest is at the time of Passover, 38:26 so it's approximately the months of April or May. 38:30 It's very significant that they came back at this particular 38:33 time, the time of the barley harvest. 38:35 Now before I continue telling this story, I need to share 38:39 with you something about the Hebrew laws of redemption. 38:42 God gave certain laws to Israel that if someone sold his 38:46 inheritance, or if someone sold himself into slavery, 38:50 or if a man died and had no one to carry on the family name, 38:54 the seed, there was a way in which the inheritance could be 38:58 recovered, freedom could be recovered, and the name could 39:01 be perpetuated. Let's notice the book of Leviticus 25:25, 39:08 Leviticus 25:25. Here we find what would happen if a person 39:15 sold his inheritance. 39:17 In other words, his land. 39:19 Chapter 25 and verse 25. It says this: 39:32 You notice the word some is in italics. 39:35 It's not in the Hebrew. 39:36 Actually, it says,... 39:46 By the way, the word redeemed there means to recover 39:49 by paying a price. 39:55 Who needed to redeem what a next of kin, or brother sold? 40:01 It had to be a close relative who could pay the price, 40:08 and buy back what had been sold. 40:10 Now notice what would happen if an individual sold himself 40:14 into slavery. Chapter 25, and verses 48 and 49, 25:48, 49. 40:22 It says here: 40:47 Of course he couldn't redeem himself, 40:49 because he'd sold himself. 40:51 How could he redeem himself? 40:53 That's a hypothetical statement. 40:54 But you notice that in order to redeem the lost inheritance, 40:57 and in order to be redeemed from slavery, from servant hood, 41:02 a next of kin had to pay the price to buy back freedom, 41:07 and to buy back the lost inheritance. 41:10 And because of scarcity of time, I might mention 41:13 Deuteronomy 25:5. We won't look for it right now, 41:17 but it said there that if somebody, 41:19 if a wife had a husband with no seed who could carry on the 41:25 family name, the brother of the dead husband, 41:30 or one of the close relatives was required to marry the wife 41:38 who had been left without a husband, so that the family 41:41 name, so that the family seed could be carried on. 41:44 Now I find these laws of redemption very interesting. 41:48 You could buy back the sold inheritance. 41:50 You could buy back freedom. 41:53 You could perpetuate the family name. 41:56 And a next of kin had to do it; a blood brother, if you please. 42:01 Now we can continue with the story of Ruth 2:1, 2. 42:07 It says there was a relative of Naomi's husband. 42:12 Interesting isn't it? 42:34 Notice this was not Naomi's idea. 42:35 Naomi didn't say, hey, go over to Boaz's field to see if maybe 42:39 he likes you, and he'll get married to carry on Elimelech's 42:42 name. The idea did not come from Naomi. 42:45 In fact we're going to find that Ruth ends up in the field 42:49 of Boaz by coincidence; actually it's providence. 42:53 So it says in verse 2, so Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, 42:58 Please let me go to the field, and glean 43:01 heads of grain after him... 43:09 Then she left and went and gleaned in the field after the 43:14 reapers: and she happened to come to the part of the field 43:19 belonging to Boaz. Some versions say, perchance, by coincidence, 43:27 she came and she was working in the fields of Boaz, 43:30 and you say, what's so great about that? 43:32 Well, Boaz was a next of kin of Elimelech, and as such, 43:40 according to the Hebrew laws of redemption, 43:42 he could pay the price to redeem the lost inheritance 43:45 and buy it back, to redeem Naomi from the servanthood 43:49 that she was in, and to perpetuate the family name. 43:53 A next of kin had to do that. 43:56 And to make a long story short, Boaz sees Ruth gleaning 44:03 the fields. By the way, when it says gleaning in the fields, 44:06 she's actually picking up what's left over after the reapers 44:10 have gone by. That shows how destitute they were, 44:12 because Hebrew law forbade the owners of fields to totally 44:19 harvest the fields. They had to leave a certain amount of the 44:22 grain in the field so that the poor could come to the fields 44:26 and pick up the grain so, that they could eat. 44:28 And so what Ruth is doing, she's gleaning what's left over. 44:33 In other words, this shows the destitute situation that Ruth 44:38 and Naomi were in. But then Boaz sees Ruth, starts asking about 44:43 her, and finds out that she's actually the relative now, 44:51 inherited by Naomi, who is Elimelech's wife. 44:55 And, of course, Boaz is related to Elimelech. 44:58 And Boaz says, You know, I will redeem what was lost. 45:05 I'll pay the price. But the problem is there was another 45:10 next of kin who was a closer relative of Elimelech than Boaz 45:14 was. Now isn't that interesting? 45:18 And so Boaz goes to him and he says, you know, you really, 45:22 technically are the one who is supposed to redeem 45:25 the lost possession. You are to redeem Naomi from the deplorable 45:29 condition that she's in. 45:30 You're supposed to pay the price so that the family name; 45:35 you're supposed to marry her so that the family name 45:36 is perpetuated. Are you willing to do it? 45:40 He says, well, you know, basically if you want me to 45:46 pay the price to buy back the inheritance, and if you want me 45:50 to deliver her from the deplorable situation that she's 45:53 in that would be fine. 45:56 I'm willing to pay the price, but when it comes to marrying 45:58 Ruth, I don't think so. 46:00 He didn't like the idea of marrying her because he wasn't 46:05 the right man. There was someone else who was the right man. 46:09 It was Boaz. And so the marriage took place. 46:16 Notice chapter 4, and lets read verses 9 and 10, 46:20 chapter, 4 verses 9 and 10. 46:22 And you should read the whole story. 46:23 It's a fascinating story. 46:24 It says there in verse 9: 47:05 In other words, he's saying, I'm going to buy back the lost 47:09 inheritance. I am going to put Naomi once again on a position 47:14 of rulership over the heritage, and I am going to perpetuate 47:19 the name of Elimelech so it is not erased from history. 47:25 But, you know, there was much more than meets the eye. 47:28 You see, Boaz was just looking at the restricted picture 47:34 that he was seeing at that very moment. 47:36 But there's much more to this story. 47:38 We don't know where this story is leading to until we get to 47:43 the very end of it. 47:45 Let's go to chapter 4, and let's begin reading at verse 13. 47:53 It says... So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife: 47:58 and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, 48:03 and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, 48:09 Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without 48:14 a close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel. 48:20 And may he be to you a restorer of life, and a nourisher of your 48:25 old age: for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, 48:29 who is better to you than seven sons, has born him. 48:33 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, 48:38 and became a nurse to him. 48:56 Are you catching a glimpse of something very interesting 49:01 in this story? What the devil intended to do by exiling this 49:10 family from the tribe of Judah, hoping they would become 49:15 contaminated with the nations, gleeful because all of the men 49:19 in the family had died there; God actually sent that family 49:24 over to Moab so that they could come back with Ruth 49:30 to Bethlehem Ephrata so that Ruth could marry Boaz, 49:36 from whom, eventually, would come David, and from David 49:40 the Messiah. Does this help you see history 49:46 in a different light? 49:47 Now you know something, who would ever end a love story 49:52 with a genealogy? What an anti-climax, you know! 49:58 This story ends with a genealogy; 50:00 with a list of descendents. 50:02 Maybe we'd better take a look at that genealogy. 50:04 Let's go to chapter 4 and verse 28, actually verse 18. 50:11 Now this is the genealogy of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 50:17 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 50:20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 50:25 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 50:28 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. 50:33 Now that's only a part of the genealogy. 50:37 Go with me to Matthew 1, Matthew 1 and lets read verses 50:44 3 through 6, Matthew 1:3-6. 50:49 It says here... Judas begat Phares and Zara by Tamar; 50:56 and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 50:59 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; 51:02 and Naasson begat Salmon;... 51:14 Is that the same genealogy? Yes. 51:17 Let me ask you, who is at the very end of this genealogy? 51:20 Notice verse 16: 51:35 All of this story had one intention, and that was 51:40 to continue the Holy line from which the Messiah 51:44 would eventually come. 51:46 Probably many of us are acquainted with that text in 51:49 Micah 5:2 where it speaks about Bethlehem Ephrata being little 51:55 among the thousands of Judah. 51:57 Yet God says, Out of you shall come unto Me He who is to be 52:03 ruler in Israel. And then it says, whose goings forth 52:08 are from when? from everlasting. 52:13 Who was going to be born in Bethlehem? 52:16 The promised Seed; the Messiah. 52:19 And so you go full circle. 52:23 Elimelech and his family go to Moab, and Naomi brings Ruth 52:29 back to Bethlehem. And eventually in Bethlehem is born 52:34 Jesus, the Messiah. Now allow me to conclude by saying a few 52:41 things about Christ. 52:43 Do you know that there's no one within the human race 52:46 who can recover that which was lost, because all have sinned 52:51 and come short of the glory of God. 52:53 There is none righteous, no not one, we're told in Romans 3. 52:57 And so within the human race there was no one who could 53:02 recover the lost inheritance; there was no one who could 53:06 deliver humanity from slavery; there was no one who could 53:11 perpetuate the name of God's people, or perpetuate God's 53:15 people because everyone in humanity had become defeated 53:19 by Satan. The human race needed a Redeemer. 53:23 The human race needed a next of kin to restore the lost 53:28 possession; to recover the lost inheritance; 53:32 to deliver His people from slavery; and not only to 53:35 perpetuate their name, but to perpetuate them, 53:39 though they should die, through the resurrection from the dead. 53:43 The human race needed someone to fulfill that role. 53:47 Do you know that Jesus, before He became incarnate, 53:50 He could not fulfill that role, because before Jesus came a man 53:54 He was God. He belonged to a different family. 53:56 This is the real reason why Jesus took human flesh, 54:01 as it says in John 1:14. 54:04 It says, And the Word of God became flesh 54:10 and dwelt among us. 54:13 In other words, Jesus became our blood brother. 54:16 He became our next of kin, so that He could fulfill the Hebrew 54:21 laws of redemption; so that He could pay the price to buy back 54:25 the lost inheritance; so that Jesus could deliver us from the 54:29 slavery to sin that we had sold ourselves into; so that He could 54:33 perpetuate not our name, but so that he could perpetuate us 54:37 forever and ever. Jesus came to perform that. 54:41 The interesting thing is that, and we'll study this in our next 54:45 lecture; Do you know that the Bible says in Revelation 22:16 54:50 that Jesus is the father of David, and the son of David? 54:54 Now you try and explain that! 54:57 Let me ask you, can I be my sons father, and my son's son? 55:02 You say, that's ridiculous. 55:04 But Jesus, in scripture, is called the root of David, 55:08 and the offspring of David. 55:09 He's the root, or the father of David, because as God He 55:14 created David when He created Adam, because David comes from 55:19 Adam, and He's the son of David, when He incorporated Himself 55:25 into the human race. 55:26 And, by the way, that's the reason why Hebrews 2:14 says 55:32 that Jesus became like unto His brethren. 55:38 He took flesh in as much then as the children have partaken of 55:42 flesh and blood. He Himself likewise shared the same, 55:46 that through death He might overcome he who had the power 55:51 of death, that is Satan, and deliver those who through 55:55 fear of death had been held in life time bondage. 56:01 What did Jesus come to do? 56:03 He came to deliver His people from bondage to Satan 56:07 and to evil. Now this is a beautiful thing. 56:11 The only person who deserves to be called the Son of God 56:15 really is Jesus. We are Sons of Wrath according to the Bible. 56:21 But you know what happens? 56:23 When I receive Jesus as my Savior then Jesus is my brother. 56:29 And so Jesus comes to His Father and He says, 56:34 Father, I've got a new brother whom I bought the inheritance 56:41 back for; whose name I want to perpetuate forever; 56:46 whom I delivered from slavery to sin. 56:49 I have a new brother, Father. 56:50 And the Father says, and what's that brothers name? 56:53 Oh, Pastor Bohr. And the Father looks at Him and He says, 56:58 Pastor Bohr's your brother? 56:59 Well, if Pastor Bohr's your brother, then he's my son. 57:05 By becoming man Jesus paid the price to recover everything 57:11 that was lost. What the devil tried to do to derail the plan 57:15 of God in the days of Ruth, God used to eventually bring 57:20 the Seed into the world. 57:23 And Matthew 5 says we will inherit the earth very soon. |
Revised 2014-12-17